Antifouling Technology, based on Shark's Skin

brian eiland · Jun 3, 2013

brian eiland said: ↑

The Eureka Moment
Sharks are one of the few slow-moving marine creatures on which algae and other microorganisms don’t thrive. Researchers believed that sharkskin’s chemical makeup kept organisms from growing on it. But Anthony Brennan, a professor in the University of Florida’s Materials Science and Engineering Department, thought something else might be behind the skin’s ability to thwart microbes.

http://www.sharklet.com/wp-content/themes/sharklet/pdfs/archive/Florida_Trend-Sharkskin_Technology_Inhibits_Germ_Growth.pdf
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I mentioned this over on another subject thread, but got very little responce. Hopefully the pleasure boater will benefit from this technology real soon?

Sharklet? Marine | Sharklet

Beau · Jun 3, 2013

A couple of sailboat racers at our marina have talked about this technology. Funny, I alway thought the closer you could get your bottom to a mirror finish the slipperier it got. I remember looking the other way when they first painted my nice, smooth gelcoat bottom. Nature knew different, apparently....

brian eiland · Jun 3, 2013

Inspired by Nature

Technology | Sharklet

Journal Reports
Technology | Sharklet

...no definitive marine products yet??

brian eiland · Jun 3, 2013

BTW Beau, its slicker than you think,

"Sharklet is a microscopic pattern. You cannot feel it or see the details of the pattern with the naked eye, but the pattern will exhibit a slight but visible holographic effect. Each Sharklet diamond measures nearly 25 microns across (about 1/5th the thickness of a human hair) and nearly 3 microns deep. Each Sharklet contains seven ribs of varying length."

brian eiland · Jun 3, 2013

BF Goodrich NoFoul

...from a posting I made a number of years ago,...about a product I became aware of a LONG time ago ( I actually considered getting involved with the application of this new product to the commercial & pleasure boating market)

brian eiland said: ↑

I believe the substance you are referring to was a product called NoFoul. It was actually originally developed for use on the spherical surfaces of the sub's sonar dome, as most existing antifouling paints could not be used on the domes... and certainly not metallic ones that would interfere with the sonar signals

I believe you may be wrong about the Mercury content. It was an 'organic antifoulant' impregnated into the neoprene material. I believe this 'organic' material was the predecessor to the 'tin based' antifoulants that are now illegal, but were so effective

I subsequently saw some of this material be utilized on the outer skins of the nuclear subs, and inquired with David Taylor as to whether it had been tested for drag resistance...never could get an answer.

It was VERY effective as an antifoulant, having gone 10 years in tropical waters with virtually no fouling. I was just getting interested in the pleasure boat business at the time, and thought this material might be an excellent item for application there. But when I looked at the price of the product, plus its special glue, it did not offer that great of a savings over the traditional 'pull the boat each year and bottom paint it'. And the latter offered that other work could be performed on an annual basis besides bottom painting
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Beau · Jun 4, 2013

brian eiland said: ↑

BTW Beau, its slicker than you think,

"."
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Brian

I've heard that. Apparently because it is NOT perfectly smooth, but rather is layered to the rear like a shark's dentrils, the coefficient of friction is greatly reduced - or something like that?

Beau · Jun 4, 2013

That's "dentricles" not "dentrils"....

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Antifouling Technology, based on Shark's Skin

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